Today’s Walk in the Word
Because you say so, I will let down the nets. —Luke 5:5 Jesus, the carpenter, told Simon, the fisherman: “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch” (Lk 5:4). There were two things off base with this charge: 1) Nighttime was the right time to fish; it […]
Read MoreGrace be with you. —2 Timothy 4:22 I get misty-eyed reading 2 Timothy, Paul’s last letter. He was terribly lonely. “Everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me,” he wrote (1:15). “At my first defense, no one stood with me . . . all forsook me” (4:16). “Only Luke is with me” (4:11). He […]
Read MoreTo Timothy, my dear son. 2 Timothy 1:2 Today my scheduled daily Bible reading put me in the pages of 2 Timothy. When I visit here, it’s always with a sense of sadness, because it was Paul’s last letter. His writings have been transformative in my life; so when he signs off and lays aside […]
Read MoreOn his law he meditates day and night. —Psalm 1:2 I got a belly laugh out of a publicist’s defense of a politician whose knowledge of Scripture was dubious. “He knows his Bible,” he said. “He’s read it all the way through. […]
Read MoreDo not lie. Do not deceive one another. —Leviticus 19:11 Ken Stegall, an admired preacher friend, wrote about a man who had a small grocery store in Sheridan, Arkansas in the 1940s. A customer told him she needed a large chicken. He reached into the ice bin, […]
Read MoreIn his hand is the life of every creature. —Job 12:10 Hummingbirds are fascinating creatures. They weigh less than one ounce; consume one-half of their weight in sugar daily; have a heart rate of more than 1,200 beats per minute; take 250 breaths per minute. Then there’s this fact that I’m struggling to wrap my […]
Read MoreTrust in the Lord with all your heart. —Proverbs 3:5 Habakkuk was frustrated. “How long, O Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen?” (Hb 1:2). The prophet gives voice to our disappointment with God’s silence. It’s hard to harmonize our heartache with […]
Read MoreGreat is his love toward us. —Psalm 117:2 Here’s a bit of trivia for you. The shortest chapter in the Bible is separated by only one chapter from the longest. The longest chapter is Psalm 119, which has 176 verses; 2,426 words. The shortest chapter is Psalm 117, which has only two […]
Read MoreAlways be humble, gentle, and patient. —Ephesians 4:2 Do you remember the tale about the guy who came to work out of sorts? His secretary asked, “Did you wake up grouchy this morning?” He said, “No, I let her sleep.” Consider these two lists: Cranky Pleasant Critical […]
Read MoreLet the little children come to me. —Mark 10:14 Vince Gerhardy tells about a Sunday school teacher who introduced her little ankle biters to Psalm 23: “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. . . .” The following week she asked if anyone could quote Psalm 23. A […]
Read More